Multiple access communication systems in both wired and wireless environments often implement a random access channel protocol, which effectively controls when user elements transmit information to a centralized access point, such as a base station. In general, each of the user elements may attempt to transmit information to the base station during a given slot. If the base station is unable to properly receive the transmitted packets, a generic feedback message is transmitted and received by each of the user elements. Based on the feedback information, the user elements that transmitted information corresponding to the feedback message may take various steps to prepare to retransmit the packet, or transmit a new packet. If the feedback indicates that a message was not received, the user element knows that the packet must be retransmitted, and may implement any number of back-off procedures in order to avoid a conflict with another competing user element during retransmission. Unfortunately, many of these protocols are very inefficient and unstable, especially as the number of user elements competing for channel resources increases. A commonly employed random access channel protocol used in many local and metropolitan area networks incorporating Ethernet, wireless local area network, cellular, and satellite technology is (ALOHA), and in particular, the slotted ALOHA protocol. A major advantage associated with the ALOHA protocol is its simplicity in implementation and use for random, multiple-access networks. However, the key drawback of the ALOHA protocol is its low efficiency and its instability.
Given the ever-increasing demand for more efficient use of communication resources, there is a need for an improved random access channel protocol, which is significantly more efficient and more stable than existing protocols.